Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
2He did that which was evil in the sight of YAHWEH1, after the abominations of the nations that YAHWEH cast out before Bani-Israel. 3For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he reared up altars for the Baals, and made an Asherah pole, and worshiped all the host of the sky, and served them. 4He built altars in the House of YAHWEH, of which YAHWEH said, “In Jerusalem shall my Name be forever.” 5He built altars for all the host of the sky in the two courts of the House of YAHWEH. 6He also made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; and he practiced sorcery, and used enchantments, and practiced sorcery, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he worked much evil in the sight of YAHWEH, to provoke him to anger. 7He set the engraved image of the idol, which he had made, in the House of God, of which God2 said to Dawud3 and to Sulayman4 his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my Name forever: 8neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from off the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, even all the Taurat5 and the statutes and the ordinances given by Musa6.” 9Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did evil more than the nations whom YAHWEH destroyed before Bani-Israel.
10YAHWEH spoke to Manasseh, and to his people; but they gave no heed. 11Therefore YAHWEH brought on them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
12When he was in distress, he begged YAHWEH his God, and humbled himself very much before the God of his fathers. 13He prayed to him; and he was answered by him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that YAHWEH was God.
14Now after this he built an outer wall to the city of Dawud, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance at the fish gate; and he surrounded Ophel about with it, and raised it up to a very great height: and he put valiant captains in all the fortified cities of Judah. 15He took away the foreign gods, and the idol out of the House of YAHWEH, and all the altars that he had built in the mountain of the House of YAHWEH, and in Jerusalem, and threw them out of the city. 16He built up the altar of YAHWEH, and offered thereon sacrifices of peace-offerings and of thanksgiving, and commanded Judah to worship YAHWEH, the God of Israel. 17Nevertheless the people sacrificed still in the high places, but only to YAHWEH their God.
18Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the Name of YAHWEH, the God of Israel, behold, they are written among the acts of the kings of Israel. 19His prayer also, and how God answered him, and all his sin and his trespass, and the places in which he built high places, and set up the Asherah poles and the engraved images, before he humbled himself: behold, they are written in the history of Hozai. 20So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his place.
21Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. 22He did that which was evil in the sight of YAHWEH, as did Manasseh his father; and Amon sacrificed to all the engraved images which Manasseh his father had made, and worshiped them. 23He did not humble himself before YAHWEH, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but this same Amon trespassed more and more. 24His servants conspired against him, and put him to death in his own house. 25But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.
- 33:2 YAHWEH, God’s personal Name revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15: ‘God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.”’ ↩︎
- 33:7 God, English translation of elohim. Elohim (Hebrew) is related to allah (Arabic) and alaha (Syriac), all of which translate as “God,” and refer to the one true God. ↩︎
- 33:7 Dawud, this Arabic name is derived from David (Hebrew) and means “Beloved.” ↩︎
- 33:7 Sulayman, this Arabic name and the name Solomon are both derived from the Hebrew name Shlomo which means “peace.” ↩︎
- 33:8 Taurat, this Arabic term is derived from the Hebrew word Torah, which means “instruction” or “teaching.” Depending on context, Taurat can refer to,
1. The whole Hebrew Bible contained here under the title Taurat, equivalent to what Jews today call Tanakh, and what Christians call the Old Testament.
2. The revelation given to Prophet Musa, that is, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, sometimes called the Pentateuch. Pentateuch is a Greek word meaning “five books” and includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These five books are attributed to Prophet Musa himself. This is the traditional and most common meaning given to Taurat or Torah.
3. The Law of Musa found within the Pentateuch, with its hundreds of rules and regulations covering many aspects of daily life for the people of Israel. The most famous of these laws are the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20.
4. Taurat can also refer to divine instruction and teaching in general without reference to a particular book of the Hebrew Bible. ↩︎ - 33:8 Musa, this Arabic name is derived from the Hebrew name Moses meaning “to pull out” or “draw out” (of water); referring to the biblical story where he was rescued from the Nile River by Firaun’s daughter. ↩︎